Small firms give staff more courses

The
latest Training Trends survey by the Industrial Society estimates that the
average employee will have 4.5 days of training this year compared to the 4.7
days in 2000.

And
in contrast to last year’s Training Trends figures, SMEs are offering on
average more day’s training than larger organisations, points out Industrial
Society project manager Rachel Taylor. "Larger organisations are now
providing fewer training days than over the past two years," she added.

She
believes that SMEs are increasingly showing that they are taking training
seriously. "They seem more interested in developing their staff than the
larger organisations," she said.

However,
the greatest number of training days is offered by medium-sized organisations
(501 to 1,000 employees). They are offering around five training days, as
opposed to the 4.2 days offered by organisations with more than 2,500 people.

The
survey showed a significant increase in the use of coaching and mentoring (up 6
per cent from last year to 67 per cent ), and computer-based learning (an
increase of 6 per cent to 56 per cent). In comparison, video-based learning is
down 5 per cent to 32 per cent.

The
use of coaching and mentoring has increased across all job types and levels,
but most significantly for administrative and clerical staff – by 36 per cent
of respondent organisations compared with 27 per cent last year.